Moonlight Falls
by AP3
Summary: Follow the story of several characters as they deal with the everyday struggle to fit in a human world when they're actually... not.
1. Welcome to Moonlight Falls

Moonlight Falls:

A Fanfiction By Ape

Welcome to Moonlight Falls, were things are always bright and sunny. We are pleased to say we have many accomplishments and hold a very important place in the world despite being such a small town. We have low crime rate, a good education system for the kids, and plenty of places for the family to have fun. Some of our night places are the hottest all around and our parks are always clean and fresh. However one must be careful around the Full Moon, strange but perfectly safe things happen. Nothing to dangerous or hair raising... You'll do fine here in Moonlight Falls! I promise, and if you don't believe me then just listen to this story of Moonlight Falls' fine citizens. I promise you won't regret it. Moving here is the best choice for any person!

*Chapter One*

~Welcome To Moonlight Falls~

It was a bright and sunny August morning when the Grants pulled up to their new home in their small car.

"That, is our new home?" Zoey asked in disappointment.

"It's not that bad, Zoe, give it some time!" Tabitha nudged her daughter and turned the car off, "Come on, you're going to love the pond!"

The house Tabitha had bought was a small cottage surrounded by nothing but weeping willows and a front porch resting on top a pond filled of fish. Zoey walked in the house full of regret. Inside there was only room for a kitchen and a small table with two white rotting chairs.

"Don't worry, we'll get new furniture. I promise it'll look amazing, come see your room upstairs!" Tabitha towed Zoey up the creaky steps into a dimly lit hall with three doors, one had to be the bathroom and Zoey guessed the other two lead to their bedrooms. When Tabitha opened one, Zoey looked in and her heart sank.

"This House is smaller than Jessie's apartment." Zoey moaned, her room didn't even have a proper bed, there wouldn't be enough room for one.

"I know it's not much, but it's all I had to work with." Tabitha leaned against the door way, her daughter only rolled her eyes.

"I get that we had to move from New York but this is ridiculous." Zoey went back down the stairs and looked in the mini fridge for something to eat, Tabitha closed the door on her.

"I'm trying the best I can for you Zoey. Since that happened-"

"You mean the bite."

"Yes, the bite." Tabitha sighed and leaned against one of the counters, "Honey we need to be careful."

"Is that why we have no neighbors? Cause I didn't see a house on the drive up here."

"There's a town, and yes we are a little on the outskirts but it's the best I could do on short notice. Zoey this is the perfect place to raise you now that... things have changed."

"I didn't want things to change, I didn't ask for this. Any of this." Zoey looked out the small window, she watched a bird pull an earthworm out of the ground.

"I know sweetie. But it did change and we needed new arrangements for you, people in New York wouldn't understand your gift." Tabitha reached over and brushed a lock of blonde hair out of Zoey's face.

"This isn't a gift mom, this is a curse. I didn't want this, I want to be normal like every other girl! I want to go to school with my friends, laugh, meet some one special, worry about little things like part time jobs and money. I didn't want to have to worry about turning into a, a..." Zoey felt the anger burning inside her, she stumbled on her words, her mind was a jumbled mess, "LIKE A WILD ANIMAL!" She slammed her fist on the counter top and ran upstairs to her room.

"Zoey! Zoey wait!" Tabitha called after her but Zoey was too fast, Tabitha sighed again in frustration. She didn't know how to help her daughter. Tabitha glanced at the counter top, the wood was shattered.

{Break}

Long locks of chesnut hair, bright blue eyes, and a enchanting smile. Armiee was a promising new writer just barely finding her way in the world. As she pulled into her new garage, Armiee couldn't help but laugh, her new house was everything she dreamed it would be. She walked the brick path for the first time and opened the stained glass doors for the first time. Inside was breathtaking, the kitchen had marble floors and two fridges. The dinning table was polished wood, a chandelier hanging, it's light setting a nice glow to everything. The white carpet beneath her feet was decorated with beautiful rugs of all kinds of patterns. At one end sat the large couch in front of a TV, a bookcase to it's side and a coffee table awaiting her lab top and hot chocolate. Armiee took a moment to bounce up and down, very excited about her new life as a free bird. She jumped on the couch, ran down the hall to her bedroom, already furnished with a burgundy themed dresser, bed, lamps, and a mirror. She fell into her bed and stared at the ceiling. Armiee could imagine it all, her whole life ahead of her.

"Time to unpack!" Armiee jumped up and returned to her old car outside to see a man her age jog past. She pretended not to see him and walked out to her mail box, she glanced to see him stop at the mail box beside her own.

"Hi there," He smiled, his green eyes filled Armiee with curiosity.

"Hi." Armiee giggled.

"I guess this house is yours?"

"Yeah, had it built and everything."

"I was wondering who was going to live at the new place." The man leaned on his mail box, he used the towel around his neck to wipe the sweat off his forehead, "I wished I had known sooner you were coming today, I would have greeted you properly."

"Oh no, this works just fine for me." Armiee blurted, the man bite his lip and Armiee blushed deeply, "I mean, I don't really care. It's not like I can see the six pack underneath your shirt, nor do I care much for the biceps or or the..." Armiee scratched her head, "Can we just pretend I didn't say that?"

"Sure," The man chuckled, he offered his hand, "I'm Joseph."

"Armiee." She grabbed his hand and felt electricity run through them.

"That's a interesting name."

"Hard to pronounce too, I used to twist people's arms for getting it wrong." Armiee joked, Joseph raised his eyebrows, "Get it, cause arm, armiee..."

"Yeah." he nodded.

"Sorry, I have no idea where that came from. I'm usually a lot cooler then this." Armiee looked down at her feet.

"No it's fine, I think rather than cool, it's better that you're like this. Very cute." Now it was Joseph's turn to blush.

"Cute?"

"I meant, sweet. Yeah sweet." He rushed to correct himself, Joseph stopped leaning on his mail box. Armiee couldn't help but laugh at his flustered expression.

"Well thank you." She played with her hair.

"You do realize you haven't let go of my hand, right?"

"What?" Armiee continued to smile, Joseph looked down at their hands. "Oh, sorry." Armiee let go in a haste.

"Do you need help, moving in?" Joseph pointed to her house.

"Oh no, everything is already in there, so no." Armiee answered a little too quickly, she rocked back and forth on her heels.

"Well stop by any time, if you need anything, I'm just right there." Joseph pointed to the stone house to the left of Armiee's bright home. "It looks like a dark dungeon from the outside but it's much nicer inside."

"It's nice." Armiee lied, she never liked houses that looked to dreary. "It was nice to meet you Joseph."

"You as well, Army."

"Armiee."

"Armiee?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry."

"No need to apologize, it happens all the time."

"I still feel bad about it." Joseph ran his finger through his black hair, "I'll tell you what, how about I show you around town some time?"

"I would like that, very much." Armiee bit her lip.

"Good."

"Good."

"Welcome to Moonlight Falls Armiee."

{Break}

Rebecca slammed the door, it broke the hinges and cracked the wood. She felt her heart racing, she ripped her shirt to expose her undershirt and fell to the ground. Rebecca tried to control her breath but it only grew heavier. She hit her head against the wall in frustration, a vicious growl grew in her throat as she tried to fight back the claws. Rebecca tore the carpet, she moaned and sweat dropped from her chin. Rebecca couldn't help but cry as her back cracked, the pain too great to handle, the beast to strong to fight. Her amber eyes began to glow.

{Break}

"Just like that, exactly, focus and concentrate." Zant lifted Lance's arm, "Don't forget to point at the object with your wand."

"Dad, it's not working." Lance replied in annoyment.

"Just give it a moment son, you'll get it if you just focusssss." Zant let his 's' linger in Lance's ear, Malinda came out to the porch with a jug or lemonade and a plate gingersnaps. She wiped her hands on her apron.

"I don't think he appreciates you doing that dear." She sat down and poured a glass for her husband and son.

"Shh!" Zant put his finger to his lips, "He's almost got it. That's it Lance, just imagine the feather. Flying in the air." The three of them waited in silence at Lance continued to point his wand at the feather. So far, the thing wasn't moving an inch, Lance glared at the thing, willing it in his mind to move. Finally the wind picked up and the feather blew away. Lance put down his wand and looked at the ground in shame.

"That's it! You did it!" Zant faked the excitement.

"The wind did it Dad." Lance mummered.

"Oh come on! If you think like that then the feather has one!" Zant gave Lance's shoulder a hardy shake, "You were so close Lance, I felt the magic dripping off your wand."

"Face it Dad, I don't have it. I'm human."

"No you're not!" Zant ran his hand through Lance's hair, Lance shrugged him off, a car honked in the distance.

"That's Sherry, I'll see ya later." Lance handed Zant the wand and gave Malinda a kiss on his cheek.

"Wait a second, your girlfriend can wait!" Zant called after Lance, who was already half way to Sherry in her convertible, "We were in the middle of a magic lesson." Zant watched hopelessly as Lance got in the car and drove off with Sherry.

"Maybe next time dear." Malinda held out a glass of lemonade to Zant, he took it and sat down beside her.

"I just don't understand what happened. He used to love learning magic."

"You mean about magic. Lance hasn't even lifted a feather yet."

"He's still learning." Zant snapped, he played with the wand in his hand, "See the problem isn't him, it's this wand. It's all wrong for him."

"That's the sixteenth wand you've made for him dear."

"Well I made it wrong, look at the handle, he can't properly grip it." Zant fiddled with the thing, Malinda put her glass on the table and stood up. She put her arms around Zant and laid her chin on his shoulder.

"Is this really about the wand?"

"What else could it be, this wand has to be defective."

"You said the same thing about the last one."

"The last one was the same as well."

"Honey, it's not the wand." Malinda took the wand from Zant's hands and snapped it in two. "It's Lance, he thinks he isn't special."

"But he is special."

"I know that, and you know that, but I don't think he does." Malinda placed the two halves on the table and sat in Zant's lap.

"Why? Why doesn't he understand? He used to love magic, now all he does is mumble and hang out with that skimpy girl."

"Oh honey, Sherry isn't skimpy."

"You've seen the way she dresses, skirts up to her thighs, shirts down to her... bosom. No self respecting woman would dress like that."

"I recall I used to dress like that." Malinda smiled.

"No, you are a fairy, you wore flowers and spring leafs and water. There is a difference." Zant played with Malinda's curls, "Besides, when you wear human clothes, you wear beautiful gowns and ribbons."

"Time change, Lance is growing up. He isn't seven anymore dear, he's already seventeen. There's no room for magic in his world."

"Does that mean he has no time for an old wizard like me?" Zant pouted, Malinda played with his red hair.

"Of course not." Malinda smiled at Zant, "You know how much he admires you." She caressed his cheek and leaned in for a kiss. When their lips touched, Zant's wrapped his arms around her waist and Malinda couldn't focus on holding back her wings any longer. Purple dust formed and swirled around, glitter floated gently to the ground as her wings shined brightly. Zant loved Malinda's wings, he loved every bit of her. The smell of honey dew on her soft skin, the curls that cascaded down her back, the dimples that exposed themselves when she smiled.

"My darling wife." Zant whispered, Malinda rested her head on his chest, "I'm afraid Lance is too much like me."

"I don't know about that, he does have my peculiar taste in music."

"That I will never understand." Zant joked, Malinda laughed, he felt it her rub her nose into his neck.

"He's probably going to be out all day with her."

"Doing god knows what." Zant huffed.

"You raised him to be better than that!" Malinda punched his stomach lightly.

"It's not him I'm worried about, it's that Sherry girl."

"You really need to stop calling her that."


	2. The One Where They Meet

*Chapter Two*

~The One Where They Meet~

"Zoey, wake up! It's your first day of school, you don't want to be late!" Tabitha spoke to the door.

"I'm not going." Zoey growled back, Tabitha opened the door. She put her hands on her hips, Zoey was face down on her pile of pillows and blankets.

"I don't care if you want to spend the rest of your life in depression but you are not spending it in here. Now get your lazy butt out of bed and get dressed, I even made pancakes."

Zoey growled again but Tabitha didn't budge, for a moment Zoey hugged her pillow tighter and then let go.

"Did you mash strawberries?"

"Just the way you like them." Tabitha twirled her spatula, pleased with herself.

"Without magic?" Zoey's voice was muffled by the pillows, Tabitha put her spatula in her apron.

"Details are only that dear, get ready and come eat." Tabitha closed the door, Zoey could hear her whistle as she walked down the stairs and stood up in her bed. She dreaded the thought and groaned. The temptation of pancakes managed to get Zoey out of bed, and dressed in jeans and the only clean v neck she had left. Like always, Zoey did her hair up in a ponytail and threw on her leather jacket. She searched for a necklace to wear but only found an old necklace of a wolf, it made her laugh bitterly and she put the thing on.

"Are you ready? A new day at a new school, I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends." Tabitha winked, Zoey focused on her pancakes.

"Yeah whatever." She stuffed all the pancakes on her plate in her mouth and grabbed for her bag, "Bye mom!"

"Wait don't you want me to drive you?"

"Just give me the car keys." Zoey opened her hands, Tabitha rolled her eyes and threw the keys into Zoey's hand.

"All the guys will want you!" Tabitha called after Zoey.

"Whatever!" Zoey called back and slammed the door, she walked down the front steps and hoped in the car.

Moonlight Falls High is a very open school, it focuses on sports and the arts equally, all it's students take their education very seriously and live every day at MFH with an upbeat and happy attitude.

Zoey slammed the door to the car and stared at the ground as she raced down the steps and to her locker, she checked the paper to see that it was indeed her locker and began playing with the lock. She felt stares on her as her hand fumbled with the lock, people whispered as they passed her and Zoey felt the school watch her with wrapped attention.

"But I told her that I wasn't that kind of girl! You know what I mean?" A girl shoved Zoey as she walked on by and all of Zoey's books fell out of her bag and on to the ground. She huffed and bent down to pick up the fallen books.

"Wait, Sherry, you just bumped into that girl." A gentle voice stuck out from the rest, suddenly Zoey saw a hand reach out for her algebra books and she looked up to see a boy staring back at her. Something clicked in her, Zoey couldn't look away from his gray eyes or the relaxed strands of red hair covering his forehead.

"Here." He whispered, Zoey grabbed the book and touched his hand by accident. The two blushed and for the first time since Zoey came to Moonlight Falls, she smiled.

"Thanks." She whispered back and put all her books in her locker.

"So, are you new?"

"Yeah, Zoey." She whispered, the boy smiled wide and her heart skipped a beat.

"I'm Lance."

"And I'm his girlfriend, Sherry." The tall blonde standing next to him put her hand in his and put the other around his arm. Zoey fought an urge to growl at her.

"Sherry, she was just telling me her name." Lance slipped his arm out of Sherry's grip.

"I know, I was just doing the same." Sherry gave him a look, "I heard there was going to be a newbie around here, Zoey Grant right?"

"That's right." Zoey glared at Sherry.

"Didn't you move here from Seattle?"

"New York." Zoey leaned against the locker near her.

"Oh." Sherry nodded and smiled, she looked at Lance and he smiled too.

"I've always wanted to go to New York, what's it like?" Lance asked.

"Well-" Zoey tried to finish her sentence but Sherry cut her off.

"I hear there's a lot of crime."

"It is a city." Zoey put her bag on her shoulder, Lance tried to hide his laugh.

"True." Sherry gave Zoey a death glare and the two girls had a secret battle.

"Sherry, Fanny needs help in the bathroom." A random girl, probably a friend of Sherry's, appeared behind Sherry.

"Can't it wait?" Sherry hissed, the girl raised an eyebrow as if to say no, "Of course, see you at lunch babe?" She threw her arms around Lance.

"Yeah sure, lunch." Lance replied half heatedly, it was hard for him to focus on anything but Zoey's strange eyes. Sherry glanced at Zoey and forced Lance into a passionate kiss. After she finished, she walked away with her friend and left Zoey and Lance in an awkward silence.

"Sorry about that." Lance wiped the lip stick off his lips.

"She seems nice." Zoey hugged her history book.

"Sherry is, she's just been having a tough time lately."

"Of course." Zoey nodded and looked at the ground, "I better go." and she turned around and walked down the hall.

"Wait!" Lance followed after her, "Let me see your schedule."

"Why?"

"Help you find your first class?"

"Oh, right." Zoey fumbled in her pocket for the paper and gave it to Lance. He unfolded the wrinkled paper and read the list.

"We have the same class, check that we have three classes together." Lance smiled.

"Really? Which ones?" Zoey took her schedule back.

"Algebra, history, and my personal favorite, chemistry." Lance's eyes hinted a certain excitement.

"You like chemistry?" Zoey had to smile seeing Lance so happy, she had been around cute guys before and developed crushes before, but not any quite this fast.

"Hey, chemistry is _fun_." Lance gave her a look that said he was dead serious.

"Maybe if it's easy, which it isn't."

"Maybe if you tried harder then it would."

"Right." Zoey bit her lip, Lance had to blink, because he thought he saw fangs. The two stopped walk and Lance stared at Zoey, an alarm went off in Zoey's head and she thought for sure that she had been discovered. The bell ringed and everybody around them stared to walk just a bit fast to get to their classes.

"That's the bell." Lance swallowed, all his suspicions leaving his mind, "come on, don't want to be late on your first day."

…

Armiee walked into her living room, just by walking in she felt something very wrong. Armiee had to walk back out and then back in again to figure out what was bugging her. It was the couch of course, the rosy plump thing was in the wrong spot and didn't work at all with the Victorian lamp. Armiee would have to move the couch and by doing so she would have to rearrange the entire room. A lump dropped in her throat and Armiee couldn't help but grumble, she touched the couch and tried to get a good grip. Armiee's face turned red and a moan escaped her lips as she tried to pull the thing from it's perch. Unfortunately it had no effect and Armiee would have to give up.

"It can stay there." She waved at nothing and went outside to get the mail, Armiee was only half wishing to catch Joseph jogging. She didn't know exactly when he jogged only that she enjoyed seeing him jog. Joseph was indeed outside and checking his mail, but in casual clothes rather then sweats.

"Good morning." Armiee smiled at him and casually opened her mail box, Joseph smiled upon seeing her.

"Morning." He rummaged through the envelopes, glancing at Armiee in her pajamas, "Sleep well?" He cleared his throat.

"Like a baby, you?"

"Not so much." Joseph paused at one letter, Armiee became interested.

"Bad news?"

"Maybe." Joseph snarled, it shocked Armiee and she held tightly to the letters in her hand.

"U-huh." Armiee felt awkward standing next to Joseph as he had a staring contest with the letter.

"Well, it's good to see you again." Joseph smiled at Armiee and turned his back to leave.

"Joseph?"

"Yes?"

"I made too many waffles, do you want some?" Armiee pointed to her house, Joseph stared at her front door. At first, it seemed like he would say no and then he smiled wide.

"What the heck, I haven't had breakfast yet." He shoved the letter in his pocket and the rest into the trash. He followed Armiee inside her house.

"I hope you don't mind if I go change." Armiee set the plate down in front of Joseph.

"No that's okay, I'll just be enjoying this meal."

The moment Armiee could see that Joseph had his attention now on the waffles, she rushed to the room at the end of the hall way which opened into her giant bed room. Viciously pulling out clothes from the dresser and brushing her hair, Armiee's mind rushed to find the perfect outfit to wear. She felt a little silly obsessing over something so little but Joseph was _very_ good looking. Quickly brushing her teeth, Armiee quickly applied her lip stick and mascara. She raced out of the bedroom and before reaching the living room, calmed herself and put a smile on her face.

Joseph was still eating, in fact he was finishing his second plate.

"You weren't kidding about being hungry." Armiee put all her hair up in a ponytail.

"Sorry about that." Joseph blushed, Armiee thought it was so cute.

"No, it's okay!" Armiee stacked the two dirty plates and put them in the sink for a quick rinse.

"I can do that." Joseph was behind Armiee and in an attempt to stop her, grabbed her wrist. Armiee turned to see Joseph. She couldn't help but stare at his lips, they were so close to hers.

"I-It's no trouble." Armiee stuttered, Joseph breathed in, the smell of daisies and open fields filled his nostrils. It was almost intoxicating for him.

"You smell nice." Joseph whispered, it was a little thought that had slipped through his mouth and Joseph felt immediately embarrassed that he said it. What was wrong with him? Joseph just couldn't control himself today. Instead of pushing him off, Armiee leaned in closer.

"You really think so?" She whispered back, at this point Joseph let go and backed away.

"I uh, have to go, work and all that."

"Oh, right, I should have known. What do you do?"

"What?" Joseph was still lingering on Armiee's scent.

"What do you do for a living?" Armiee giggled, Joseph looked dazed and it was adorable to behold.

"Oh, I'm a musician."

"Really?"

"Not officially, but I'm working on it. What about you?"

"Well, nothing special." Armiee washed the first plate, "I just write."

"Write?"

"Working on my first novel."

"That's amazing! What's it about?" Joseph leaned on the counter beside Armiee and watched as she washed the last dish. Armiee handed one to Joseph and he put it into the dish washer.

"That's the problem, I can't think of anything. I haven't been inspired to write anything as of late. Where I come from was such a suffocating and bland life, there just isn't anything for me to draw from."

"Is that why you moved here?"

"Yeah, I thought a change in environment might help me. Plus I here Moonlight Falls is quite the town."

"Certainly isn't far from the truth." Joseph let a little smile run across his face.

…

"Excuse me" A man knocked on the door, "Is a Ms. Rebecca Harper in residence?" He knocked again.

"What do you want?" Rebecca opened the door a crack, making it impossible for the man to her face.

"I just wanted to remind you that you have three unread newspapers on your deck.

"So what?" Rebecca growled.

"It's very bad to just leave them there, especially on rainy days."

"That's none of your business, now leave!" Rebecca tried to shut the door but the man blocked it with his foot.

"Wait! I wanted to talk to you about something else."

"What?"

"I'm Lee, I just moved in next do-"

"Leave me alone, and move your foot before I break it."

"Oh, sorry." Lee looked down, he looked over come with sadness, "Isn't it a little dark in there?"

"Dark enough, no leave."

"What about the windows? Wouldn't it be better to let some fresh air in?"

"What do you want from me?" Rebecca scowled at Lee, not that he could see it.

"I'm just worried about you."

"How odd of you."

"I seriously thought you had died, with the newspapers and the plants growing all over your house!"

"I'm fine Lee, now leave!" Rebecca tried to close the door, Lee moved his foot out of the way in a rush but then grabbed the door as well.

"I know I'm a stranger and this may sound weird but I'm worried about you Ms. Harper!"

"I don't need your help!" Rebecca and Lee almost broke the door with their struggle, the wood made a moaning sound and even a small crack appeared near the base.

"But I can clean up the plants, and recycle the newspapers, I can even cook!" Lee pleaded.

"I don't need your help, I don't anybody's help!" Rebecca roared, just then her stomach made a low rumbling sound. Her hold on the door lessened and Rebecca ran her fingers through her short brown hair.

"Can you cook meat?"

"Very well."

"Just this once." Rebecca opened the door all the way, Lee almost dropped his mouth upon seeing her. Rebecca wore a two sizes too large t shirt, half tucked in her gray sweats. Her pixie hair cut was sticking up in odds and ends and she had dark circles under her eyes. Lee was the kind of man to freak out over the little things and seeing Rebecca in this state moved him almost to tears.

"Stop staring and make me breakfast." Rebecca snarled, Lee's back snapped up straight and he marched in with nothing but cooking this poor woman a decent meal.

…

"The look on his face when he saw his car nice and parked in his class room, it was gold" Joseph laughed and laughed harder when he saw Armiee turn red with her own silent laughter. It had been several hours since Joseph supposedly had to leave and the two were sitting on the couch telling stories to each other.

"Did you get in trouble?" Armiee was trying to breath.

"Yeah, of course we did but that didn't matter because his car was in the class room."

"Oh my god, that's a hilarious story." Armiee wiped her eyes, tears of joy were squeezing themselves out. Joseph's and Armiee's laughter took a moment to calm down and then they were left in silence staring at each other.

"What about you?" Joseph leaned in, he loved talking to Armiee, seeing her expressions, and the way she moved her hands when she talked.

"What about me?"

"Do you have some stories about your college years?"

"Not really, I was home schooled for half my life. I never went to university."

"Do you want to?"

"Not really, I want to focus on writing." Armiee picked at the pillow in her hands.

"I see." Joseph looked at the lose threads on the patterned pillow.

"And your music?" Armiee leaned in, a smile on her face, "Did you always wanted to be a musician?"

"No, in fact I was going to be a lawyer."

"What happened?"

"Life got in a the way, people were hurt. It just wasn't meant to be, that's why now I write and sing songs."

"I'd love to hear some sometime." Armiee leaned in closer, Joseph smiled wide.

"My guitar is right next door." He also leaned in and the two were a hair away from touching.

"Then maybe we should go get it." Armiee whispered.

"It can wait." Joseph tilted his head, "Unless you desperately want to go."

"Not terribly, just as long as you promise sometime you'll sing for me."

"Only if you promise to read me one of your short stories?"

"It's a deal." Armiee took the opportunity and grabbed Joseph's collar and kissed him.

…

"Dear, did you know a new witch moved into town yesterday?"

"A witch? Should we be worried?" Zant replied from his wood shop, he was working on yet another wand for Lance. The talk from yesterday hadn't quite sunk in Zant's brain, he was still hoping that a new wand might magically make Lance a great wizard like his father.

"I don't think so, but we'll never know until we invite her over!" Malinda put a plate of gingersnaps on the table next to the wood shavings.

"Do we have to?" Zant peaked up at her, "We could do other things instead..." He winked and Malinda sighed.

"Honey, if you can't make friends with any of the magic folk then how do you expect to teach Lance? You are going to need help and I hear Ms. Grant is a very accomplished witch!"

"Grant? That's a strange name for a witch."

"Never the less she is coming over any minute now!" Malinda wrapped her arms around Zant and gave him a tight squeeze.

"Coming over!? Why are you telling me now?"

"Just warning you darling!" Malinda gave him a big slobbery wet one on his cheek, the door bell down stairs ringed. "that's her now! Come along honey."

"Wait!" Zant took a gingersnap, "Okay I'm ready." They two raced down the stairs and with excitement Malinda opened the front door. Tabitha smiled upon seeing Malinda, she was very beautiful in her pale purple gown, a princess cut gown with little ribbons decorating the sleeves.

"Mrs. Hawk, thank you so much for inviting me." Tabitha offered her hand and Malinda took it and gave it a dainty shake.

"Please, call me Malinda! Come in, come in." She put her arm around Tabitha and guided her inside. Tabitha felt like gasping, the house inside was gorgeous, open windows and wide space. The wall was of flowers and song birds, which of course moved as if it was a world of it's own. A nice green couch layed in one corner, a old book case and a coffee table with sun flowers on top. Carpets covered the bright brown wood panels, red roses and velvet leaves.

"Your house is simply gorgeous." Tabitha walked slowly, taking in every bit of the house.

"Oh thank you Ms. Grant." Zant wiped gingersnap crumbs off his cheek, Tabitha shook his hand.

"You must be Zant Hawk, I've heard so much about you."

"You're joking."

"No, you are extremely famous. Known to be the wizard that battled dragons and tricked leprechauns. Really the stuff of legends." Tabitha glanced at Malinda, "I was under the impression that you had married a fairy princess, rumors but still I was sure that-"

"I'm very much a fairy Ms. Grant, I just don't like to boast my wings." Malinda wrapped her arms around Zant's waist.

"I see. Forgive me, I'm still tired from the move."

"From New York right?" Zant asked.

"Yes, just yesterday."

…

The bell ringed and Zoey headed for lunch, Lance ran out of the class room to catch up with her and the two of them sat down at a picnic table.

"Don't you need a lunch?"

"Brought one from home." Zoey pulled out a brown sack from her bag.

"Anything good?"

"A sandwich, you?"

"Gingersnaps!" Lance pulled out a plastic container and handed Zoey a cookie.

"Gingersnaps?" She looked at the thing, one eyebrow raised.

"Mom makes them all the time, Dad absolutely loves them." Lance shook his head and pulled out the rest of his lunch.

"They sound nice, your parents." Zoey picked at the cookie.

"What about yours?"

"My mom is a great cook, she doesn't find the time normally."

"And your dad?"

"My dad," Zoey didn't know how to word it, thinking about her dad wasn't on the top of her list, "he's gone." It was one way to put it, for how vague it was.

"Hey baby." Sherry swinged herself into Lance's arms and swapped spit with him for the better part of ten minutes, completely ignoring Zoey. It took a while for Sherry to finally let go and look at Zoey.

"Oh, I didn't see you there."

"Hi Sherry."

"Why is she here at our table?"

"I thought she could sit with us, being new she doesn't have anyone else to sit with. Besides Zoey is pretty cool. Best lab partner I ever had." Lance winked at Zoey and Zoey smiled back, Sherry didn't though.

"Lance, she can't eat with us. What would our friends think?"

"Sherry-"

"It's okay Lance, thanks for the offer but I better get going." Zoey got up and took ber bag and lunch off the table, "And thanks for showing me around."

"Talk to you later?" Lance asked hopefully, for an instant it was uncertain if he remembered his girlfriend was sitting on his lap.

"Sure." Zoey mumbled, waved, then walked away. She didn't know where she would sit and eat; only that it would be far away from Sherry. Zoey didn't know her very well and she wanted to keep it that way. Maybe it was the way Sherry smelled, like gym socks and cheap perfume... One thing was for sure was that Zoey couldn't stand to share the same air with Sherry, there was something about Sherry that put Zoey off.

Finally Zoey found an empty seat by a girl in braids reading a fat book, all other areas were taken and Zoey thought the girl wouldn't notice or be bothered by Zoey, she was completely absorbed in her book. Zoey sat down and began eating her sandwich, almost animal like. The girl looked at Zoey and he eyes almost fell out of her sockets. The 'sandwich' Zoey was talking about was raw meat between two slices of thin bread, hardly enough to call a sandwich.

"Excuse me?" The girl asked, her voice was high pitched and weak. Zoey stopped feasting and looked back at the girl.

"Sorry, was this seat taken?"

"No, I just wondered why you are eating raw meat."

"It's not raw, I cooked it."

"What?"

"See?" Zoey lifted one of the thin bread slices and exposed a little brown spot on the other wise red beef.

"That's hardly cooked."

"It's not raw." Zoey put the bread back on, the girl huffed.

"Well I never." She went back to her book, Zoey rolled her eyes, "What's your name?"

"Huh?"

"Your name, slob, what is it?"

"Zoey."

"Adeline." Adeline held out her hand, Zoey shook it in confusion.

"Nice to meet you?"

"You should be, you must be new."

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"No werewolf would openly eat raw meat in front of humans."

"How did you know that!?" Zoey almost screamed, her head went into a frenzy and she immediately shrieked away from Adeline, claws bared and pup ears almost threatening to pop up.

"Pups always make reckless mistakes."

"Then are you-" Zoey whispered, she thought she had found a possible companion in a similar situation but Adeline interrupted that thought.

"No, I'm a human." Adeline pushed her glasses to the bridge of her nose.

"Then how do you know about werwolves?"

"It's Moonlight Falls, who doesn't know about werewolves. Never thought I would meet one at my school though, quite the novel experience." Adeline closed her book, "I have studied your kind for all of my life. But I didn't expect my first werewolf to be a pup."

"Pup?"

"Pup, like puppy, it's a term your kind uses for newly bitten werewolves. You aren't going to eat the flesh off of somebody before the end of school are you?" Adeline's brown almost hinted excitement at the thought, Zoey realized this was the closets thing to a friend she was going to get today.

…

"That must be very trying, I hear that pups have a tough time adjusting to normal life." Malinda poured Tabitha another glass of lemonade.

"I didn't know that, I didn't know much of anything." Tabitha sighed, "I'm just scared, I've never had to deal with a werewolf, let alone it being my own daughter."

"These things just take time, usually it helps to have a more experienced wolf around." Zant bit down on his cookie.

"That's why I moved to this town, hoping that there would be one that Zoey could possibly learn from."

"Oh, but it's hard to find a _happy_ experienced wolf. It is called a curse." Zant was most blunt in all his speech, it was the way he got things in the open without complication; or so he thought. After chatting with Tabitha for a while, Zant had warmed up to her and found her pleasant.

"That's what I'm worried about, Zoey becoming isolated and unhappy. I don't want her to lose her way in the world because something like this happened."

"What about her father?" Malinda played with her glass of lemonade.

"No, he won't help. Never was of much help."

"Well if we can't rely on the father, then we might just have to," Malinda glanced at Zant, he gave her sour look in return.

"No, you don't mean?"

"I'm afraid so honey."

"But he's so _bitter_."

"Do you have any better ideas? Full moon is two nights away, we have to hurry."

"But he hates us!"

"Who? Who hates you?" Tabitha leaned in, a hope was rising inside. Zant and Malinda looked at Tabitha. Malinda looked excited, Zant seemed grim.

"Nobody you want associated with your daughter, Tabitha."

"Oh Zant is just mad because last time we talked to him he almost ripped out Zant's jugular vane."

"Really?"

"But he's very nice, a gentleman, rare in a werewolf."

"That's what he wants you to think, my dear."

"You can introduce me to him?" Tabitha grabbed Malinda's hands.

"Of course, but mind you he is sort of lonely. Hey, maybe you two will hit it off!"

"Oh I doubt that." Tabitha replied coldly, if it was one thing she wouldn't be excited about, it would be a relationship.


End file.
